Luke
3:1-18
In
the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was
governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler
of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during
the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of
Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan,
proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written
in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, “The voice of one crying out in
the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every
valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the
crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh
shall see the salvation of God.’”
In this piece from the gospel of Luke, we hear about
John son of Zechariah, or John the Baptist as we call him, or John the Dipper as he is called in
Australia.
If you’ve got a good memory, you will recall we
reflected on those words from Isaiah already. As you can see the gospel writer took an earlier religious text to give John a connection to Jewish scripture and to
give credibility to his life and actions. In one sense, John becomes a contemporary Prophet Isaiah
And what is John doing in Isaiah's wilderness? He is proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Are you squirming yet? Are wondering if I'm going to launch into sermon on sin?
In the United Church we are not comfortable with words like sin, repentance, and forgiveness. Perhaps we've had too many negative messages and we are working too hard to raise our self-esteem to go back to these uncomfortable ideas.
And yet, I'd like to give a deeper understanding of this process of repentance and forgiveness because I believe we are missing something important. To begin with, I like to put these words together--repentance and forgiveness--because it is a process, a movement.
In Hebrew, repentance comes from "to return" and "to feel sorrow." In Greek, repentance comes from metanoia, meaning to have a change of heart or mind or consciousness.
For me, repentance is an active process of reflecting on my ways of being and acting, and being open to a change of heart or mind. Sometimes I realize that I caused harm or offense so I will feel sorrow. Then I ask forgiveness of another person or God or even myself. I find this process offers freedom.
Sometimes there are a few more steps along the way depending on my actions or behavior. I came across this set of steps that offered ways to change heart and mind and consciousness.
I could also add reconciliation when relationships are renewed . . . aha . . . renewal is another "R" word.
And what is John doing in Isaiah's wilderness? He is proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Are you squirming yet? Are wondering if I'm going to launch into sermon on sin?
In the United Church we are not comfortable with words like sin, repentance, and forgiveness. Perhaps we've had too many negative messages and we are working too hard to raise our self-esteem to go back to these uncomfortable ideas.
And yet, I'd like to give a deeper understanding of this process of repentance and forgiveness because I believe we are missing something important. To begin with, I like to put these words together--repentance and forgiveness--because it is a process, a movement.
In Hebrew, repentance comes from "to return" and "to feel sorrow." In Greek, repentance comes from metanoia, meaning to have a change of heart or mind or consciousness.
For me, repentance is an active process of reflecting on my ways of being and acting, and being open to a change of heart or mind. Sometimes I realize that I caused harm or offense so I will feel sorrow. Then I ask forgiveness of another person or God or even myself. I find this process offers freedom.
Sometimes there are a few more steps along the way depending on my actions or behavior. I came across this set of steps that offered ways to change heart and mind and consciousness.
I could also add reconciliation when relationships are renewed . . . aha . . . renewal is another "R" word.
Our Advent Exploration question for today
is: What are your thoughts about repentance and forgiveness?
